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A Tale of the Grey Cathedral
This is quite the town, isn't it? There are threats on every side and even within, but the people and adventurers have stood against it all and survived. Quite a tale... Anyways, you asked about the betrayal within our ranks. Aye, it happened, but not in the way you're thinking. Lemme go back a bit. I was on assignment, guarding the good Fr. Isaac. We were meeting Captain Rodrigo at his place for some discussion. A few others were around, but nothing seemed amiss. While Fr. Isaac was talking with the Captain, I noticed a guard outside acting strangely. He was at ease standing in the middle of the streets, staring at the door towards us inside. When the man was questioned, he did nothing. The Captain went outside to confront him, probably to ask why he was acting so odd. There was a scuffle and something shifted in the air. The appearance of the odd guard changed, from the familiar face to an living empty shell. One of the worst ways to go really, becoming undead. I've never seen anything like this one though. Not quite a wight or a ghoul; something between or beyond them. Cyren explained afterwards that it was a “fext”, unfortunate warlocks who are forced into undeath by their patrons for not fulfilling the terms of their pact while they were alive. They seem to retain some part of their intelligence, but they are undead through and through. Be careful if you ever encounter one. Back to the fight then. So this creature became hostile once its illusion faded away. Several other undead were hidden on the roof across from us, crossbows at the ready. Rodrigo and I were quick to dodge away, and the fight was on. Let me tell you, Fr. Isaac does not hold back in the face of the undead. He summoned this celestial spirit, an angel really, and damn it could fight. The undead were quickly dispatched and taken away. There were 5 wights that had been captured sometime before, which were detained in our prison. Cyren and Rodrigo believed it would be wise to question them about this most recent incursion. They were reluctant to talk, but the presence of Fr. Isaac’s celestial and our fierce squad made them more cooperative. They had been sent by Ellenedel, who they had last seen at the Keep of Lorrdney (Lorraine, Lorrdinay, something like that). It was a place beyond the mountains in the mists to the north. The wights refused to say anything else, and we quickly slew them. Better to not risk a security breach, I say. Everyone agreed to call it a day. We agreed to meet in front of Morgan’s house the next morning. It was time to finally solve the mysteries of his residence. Now this next part is all something I heard from Eisa and Cyren after the fact. I had been sent off on an assignment for Cyren. He asked Eisa to take my place watching over Fr. Isaac, while they went out. The same party from the night before gathered at Ellendel’s house the next morning. So there was Cyren, Fr. Isaac, Eisa, Rodrigo, a Ranger named Rydell, and the half-orc Adelphi plus her raptor. They were following up on the magic circle they had found in the house before. Eisa redrew the circle and started powering it up. Don’t ask me how, but they activated the portal. note: If anyone can read Deep Speech, the writing in the circle says, “To the Grey Cathedral”. These seven individuals went through the portal then, prepared to fight whatever was on the other end. They landed inside a huge stone hall, on a landing above the floor along one wall. There were staircases on either side of the landing going down to the floor. The ceiling was broken in some places and you could see dark sky beyond. It was a mess down below. Huge statues lined the walls on either side, 30 feet tall, depicted heroes of a long forgotten age. The statues had been defaced heavily, smashed in places, scarred in others, unrecognizable for some as well. On the floor, old monolith armors were scattered about, inactive and lacking any magical power. Apparently Balthazar (you know, that evil halfling that’s been causing trouble around here?) had control of these constructs before. Something must have been disrupting him if those things were dead. Fr. Isaac attempted to Mend one of the statues, but it would have taken more time than they wanted to spend, so he decided to come back another time. While the party was exploring the defaced cathedral, Azrael came flying in through one of the broken windows. No, he wasn’t Flying; I assume he had one of those orc beasts. He gave a quick report about his adventure with Balthazar, which ended in the halfling’s death. That must have been a thrilling thing to hear. I’ll see if I can’t find out what actualy happened there. Anyways, despite all of the noise they had made, silence reigned; no one else seemed to be around. There was a small corridor at the opposite end of the hall from the landing. The party slowly started to follow it. After some distance, they entered a fairly large circular chamber. Another corridor branched off into stairs that led deeper into the earth. The most startling thing about the room was the body lying in the middle, surrounded by glowing runes. It was Terrence! Cyren immediately moved towards him. Eisa tried to stop him, in case it was a trap, but Cyren pushed her aside and ran up to his friend. Nothing seemed to happen when Cyren examined Terrence. His body was cold and lifeless, beyond any hope of healing. Strangely, he was preserved from the usual decay that sets in after death. It was as if he had just passed. Eisa tried to Detect any magic in the area, and apparently was practically blinded by it. There was a general aura of magic in the room, but particularly Enchantment and some other type that she couldn’t recognize in the runes. A huge radiance came from below though, not anything in particular, but a lot of it. Fr. Isaac responded to the feeling from below by casting Detect Evil and Good. I imagine he was surprised by the presence of an aberration all around them in the room. The feeling from below was hugely evil, but the one in the room was neither good or evil. He told everyone about the presence in the room, which put them on guard. I mean, there was a creature in the room, but no one could see or sense it anywhere, an unseen threat. Invisible creatures are among the worst to face; you can’t do shit against them until you figure out a way to reveal them. Out of nowhere, a few charred pages fell onto Cyren, who was still near Terrence’s body. There may have been writing on them, but more started to fall all around the party. While they were distracted by the flying papers, Terrence’s body moved on its own. Yes, you heard right. He moved by himself. The aberration presence was very strong now around Terrence. Very freaky that. Then Terrence spoke, in his own voice and from his body. He was different from the man we knew: assertive and forward, but still steady and intelligent. I, I mean Eisa, couldn’t sense anything from him that you would expect from a normal human. Physically he seemed human, but not quite. His mind was a blank wall to her, adding to the mystery. Cyren too saw that it was Terrence, but not Terrence. Yes he acted different, but there was something further strange as well. That probably was because he was dead and now he’s animated and talking. Would you trust a creature like that? No? Neither would I. The party asked him about where he had been and what they had just witnessed. Terrence answered some questions, but ignored others. As a human, he had done something to trigger this new form. An evolution or ascendance? All I know is, he wasn’t purely Terrence anymore, but something alien, something more. He confirmed that Balthazar was dead, and that Ellendel and his allies were the real threat to us now. Azrael had found a book in the tower where he had killed Balthazar. It was etched with that rune that’s been popping up around town. Azrael asked Terrence about that symbol and was about to show him the book when Terrence shifted and his body fell to the ground. Someone went to examine Terrence, but Azrael raised a hand. He had sensed movement outside, back in the cathedral. All of them quietly made their way down the corridor. A roar echoed from ahead, and something huge moved into view. It was similar to those raptors that the half-orcs tamed, but it was many times bigger, at least 15 feet tall. A giant dinosaur with a large mouthful of very sharp teeth…oh, and it was an undead thing, not living. Of course a fight went down: a huge undead vs. our illustrious adventurers. The creature partially evened the odds by vomiting (yes, actually vomiting) four creatures out of itself. These zombies and wights quickly readied themselves and joined in. There were spells being cast, Cyren’s flying sword flashing about, and Azrael slaying creatures quickly. Cyren was able to blind the huge beast, which gave us a great advantage as the creature was never able to charge at us. It blundered into the walls and vomited up more undead very soon after its first time. The half-orc Adelphi that had accompanied the party landed the killing blow in a smashing fashion. Well, she caused its death by charging on her mount and attempting to push the blind creature through the empty window next to it. It was on the landing at this point and probably didn’t know exactly where it was. It was knocked off balance and fell to its death on the cliffs below outside the window. That would have been epic to see! This little relative of a huge monster hitting it just right, so that it fell over 50 feet. Amazing! The party quickly cleared out the lesser undead that had been spawned. Terrence appeared sometime during the fight and used his magic to assist. He was much more powerful than he was before, from what Eisa was able to gauge. After the undead had been slain and burned, they settled to talk to Terrence again. But he was not in a mood to chat, telling us to leave before something else was sent our way. He was still sort of impassive and stony-faced, but he seemed sincere. The party agreed that they had already done what they set out to do, i.e. find out what happened to Terrence. Playing it safe, they returned to town through the portal and deactivated it again. I had a good chat with Eisa and Cyren after they returned to the keep, being done with my assignment for the day. Still, it would have been thrilling to actually be there, instead of just hearing about it. Maybe next time...